13.02.2025

Representatives of the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications met yesterday with representatives of Meta, AEP and the European Commission.

The activities carried out in the online environment must comply with the national legislation in force. The public authorities that have competences for the supervision of certain sectors or fields of activity in the offline environment must ensure compliance with the regulations for actions occurring in the online environment as well. Everything that is illegal in the offline environment is also illegal in the online environment.

Since its designation as DSC, ANCOM has engaged in numerous bilateral discussions, roundtables, presentations, discussion sessions with several relevant authorities, including those involved in the organisation and proper conduct of the electoral process (such as AEP, CNA, MAE, DNSC, CNCD).

Simultaneously, ANCOM organized bilateral and joint meetings with VLOP`s representatives (TikTOK, Google, Meta), as well as with the European Commission, to understand the roles of the entities involved in the implementation of DSA Regulation in the context of elections.

Ahead of the Romanian elections that will take place in May 2025, ANCOM aims to intensify its efforts in order to clarify the role of relevant authorities in combating illegal content online environment in each field of activity and to highlight the importance of the VLOPs’ broadest possible application of the measures established by the Commission`s guideline on the mitigation of systemic risks for electoral processes.

Therefore, between February and March, ANCOM organizes various meetings with the representatives of national authorities, platforms and the European Commission. The Authority considers that such an approach contributes to facilitating dialogue and clarifying the obligations and responsibilities of the entities involved in the context of the upcoming elections.

During yesterday`s meeting with the representatives of META, AEP and the European Commission, aspects related to the role of the AEP - as the relevant authority for organizing the elections - were clarified. Moreover, another topic discussed is related to the open communication channels between national authorities and META. The supervision of the very large online platforms (VLOPs) falls under European Commission`s responsibility. The national DSC is responsible for supervising the intermediary service providers established in the national territory.